Page 22 of Breaking the Alpha
She returned to her bracelet-making.“There were a couple good ones.Stable, kind families who really did want to help.But once you age out of the cute stage and enter the whole rebellious teen one, the chances of ending up in one of the good ones shrinks and you end up biding your time in the not-so-good ones.”
“How not-so-good?”he asked, not wanting to know but needing to.
“As not-so-good as you’re thinking.”Her fingers continued to flip and twist the thin threads.“But that was a long time ago.I’ve dealt with it, moved on, and no part of those places or people have space in my head or life anymore.Can you rewind the movie a few minutes?”
It wasn’t lost on him that the conversation was over.
For now.
*
River tossed hisarm over the warm body crawling back onto the cramped couch and pulled her tightly to him, inhaling the strawberry scent of her skin.“Stop wiggling around and go back to sleep.”
“I wasn’t wiggling.I was doing my deep-breathing meditation.”
“Stop your deep-breathing meditation and go back to sleep.”Running his hand along her hip, he frowned.“You’re dressed.”
“It’s almost noon,” she said with a laugh.“Coffee’s on and I know you have to be back at the shop by one, so up and at ’em.You can shower upstairs if you like.You know where it is.”
Tossing the pink striped throw blanket off, he rolled off the sofa with a groan and scooped up his backpack, grumbling when the contents spilled out of the unzipped pocket.
It felt strange showering in her bathroom, her collection of natural shampoos and soaps providing more choice than he was prepared to handle first thing in the morning.But her shower pressure was incredible, her towels large and thick, and by the time he was standing in her kitchen with a hot cup of coffee in hand, he was feeling more at home in her house than he should.And he’d slept better than he had in years.
Years.
He took out his phone and joined her in her living room, where she was already sitting on the floor with her loom loaded up with her next project.
Tomorrow was the day.He’d had enough time to separate himself from the immediate hit his ego, career, and life had taken with the initial punch delivered by his agent and her lackeys.Jodie had texted him late last night to let him know he was going to be back in the spotlight bright and early on Monday.
Powering on his phone, he took a sip of his coffee and leaned back as he watched the notifications fly across his screen.Texts, emails, and calls were interspersed among the social media alerts from all the platforms he used.He cleared his notifications, poked at a pile of small silver beads, and ran his hands through her hair.“I like those ones.”
Smiling, she added one to the piece.“Does your phone always sound like a chainsaw going off?How many notifications can one person possibly get?”
He groaned.“You have no idea.And it’s about to get worse.My agent is launching a counter to my ex’s defamation posts tomorrow.”
She arched her neck back, looked up at him, and wrinkled her nose.“I have to admire anyone who puts themselves out there for public scrutiny.I can’t imagine how hard it is seeing some of the comments people must leave.”
“I don’t read the comments.It used to drive me nuts when Windy Leigh would.That’s my ex.Or soon-to-be, I suppose.She’d go through them for hours looking for anything negative, then obsess over it for days.”He chuckled and gently guided her head forward so he could try out his braiding skills.“I wasn’t allowed to wear gray, all because one person mentioned it didn’t look good against her complexion in a picture.”
“I don’t know who to feel worse for.You, for being restricted, or her, for feeling the criticism had value.Did you tell her it bothered you?”
“It wasn’t worth a fight.”He leaned back to examine the progress of the braid.“We were both selling an image in our own ways and I couldn’t fault her for crafting hers the way she wanted.Besides, it was easier to play nice and agree than to spend a week arguing over something so stupid.”
Nodding in understanding, she sighed.“I suppose love and compromise are one and the same sometimes.”
He went quiet for a moment while she knotted the threads and added a clasp.“I wouldn’t say Windy Leigh loved me.She loved the idea of me, but unless we were doing a couple’s post, I was more of an interruption in her life than anything.I wasn’t much better.I loved the idea of being in love and having the whole white picket fence, but we were mostly compatible because we looked right together.Not because wewereright together.”His fingers undid the braid in her hair and he started again.“How about you?Have you ever been head over heels for a guy?”
She looped and tied off the last of the threads, snipping the ends.“Twice.I had a fast and furious love affair with a horse breeder when I was twenty-two, and another with an audiologist when I was twenty-six.Both came to an end when I expressed my desire to remain childless.”She turned and wrapped the bracelet around his wrist, closing the clasp and righting it.“There.”
He examined it, spinning one of the beads with his thumb.“Really?I can have it?”
She resettled herself and prepped her next piece.“I hope you keep that excitement in your voice by the thirtieth one, because I love making these.Zoe refuses to take any more, and I don’t know anyone else here.Besides, it’s like having my very own model wearing them.”
“Your very own model, hey?”he laughed, tugging gently on a handful of her hair.“I can get used to that.”Reaching over her, he pointed at a collection of black beads.“Those would look cool with the red.”
Chapter Ten
River strode intoWholly Yours Monday morning, two coffees precariously balanced in one hand.
